H-1B visa approvals for new employment secured by major Indian IT companies have plummeted to a 10-year low in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025, while U.S. technology giants have dramatically increased their H-1B hiring, primarily to staff Artificial Intelligence (AI) and R&D projects.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!US Tech Firms Dominate Initial Hires
For the first time, the top four employers receiving H-1B initial employment approvals were all U.S. companies. Indian IT firms, conversely, are using fewer H-1B visas.
| Rank | Company | Type | Initial Employment Approvals (FY 2025) |
| 1 | Amazon | US Tech | 4,644 |
| 2 | Meta Platforms | US Tech | 1,555 |
| 3 | Microsoft | US Tech | 1,394 |
| 4 | US Tech | 1,050 | |
| 5 | TCS | Indian IT | 846 |
- Indian IT Decline: The top seven Indian-based IT companies secured only 4,573 approvals for new employment, a 70% drop since 2015. Only three Indian companies made it into the top 25 list for initial approvals.
- US Investment: U.S. companies are investing billions in AI and are hiring foreign talent, including recent U.S. university graduates, to build these capabilities domestically.
Continuing Employment and Denial Rates
- Top Continuing Approvals: Amazon also led in approvals for continuing employment (existing employees) with 14,532, followed by TCS (5,293).
- TCS Rejection Rate: TCS saw its extension rejection rate for continuing employment rise to 7% in 2025 (up from 4% in 2024), notably higher than its peers.
- Overall Denial Rate: The general denial rate for H-1B petitions for continuing employment remained low at 1.9% in FY 2025.
Key Locations
H-1B approvals for initial employment were heavily concentrated in the following areas:
- Top States: California (21,559), Texas, and New York.
- Top City: New York (7,811), followed by Arlington, Virginia.
